Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4A
THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
WEDNESDAY, MAY 7, 2008
Editor: Angela Gary
Phone: 706-367-2490
E-mail: AngieEditor@aol.com
Website: www.mainstreetnews.com
Opinions
“Where the press is free and every man
able to read, all is safe.”
— Thomas Jefferson
Snapshot memories
I have thousands of photographs. They are in
photo albums, in boxes, under my bed and in
my closet.
I have photos of family members from infancy
to the present. I have photos from all of our family
vacations, my trips with friends and business trips. I
have photos from work functions and social gather
ings.
I have more photos than I know what to do with.
It is always fun though to look back over those
photos and remember the times they represent. My
sister and I laugh about those
matching outfits Mama made
us when we were little girls. We
get even bigger laughs about the
photos where we had that big
hair that was so fashionable in
the 1980s.
While all of the photos are
special to me, what is even
more special are the snapshots
in my memories. Those spe
cial times I have experienced
where I didn’t get photos. Some
of those snapshots that I have
added to my memory bank recently include:
•the huge smile my six-month-old nephew,
Grayson, gives me when I talk to him. He just
smiles and laughs as if I said the funniest thing in
the world. If I close my eyes for just a moment, I
see his smiling face.
•the look on the face of my 6-year-old nephew,
Jake, as we sit by the lake enjoying a picnic. His
eyes light up with excitement as he points out a
pretty red bird. I can see that precious face right
now.
•our outdoor cat, Socks, curled up sleeping in a
chair in the garage. He is curled tight into a ball and
is as content as can be.
•Max, the big yellow dog, jumping into the back
of the buggy for a ride with Jake and Daddy. As
soon as he hears it crank up, he is in the back and
ready to go.
•my mother as she works on her canning. A pot
is simmering on the stove and the cans are lined up
for some of her home-grown specialties. It might be
pickles from the cucumbers in her garden or jellies
and jams made with the berries she grows. I can see
her now — hard at work on a basket filled with the
jars. She has already given out 25 to sick and shut-
ins and I’m sure I will have many other snapshots
in my memory as she makes even more.
These are just a few of the things that I haven’t
actually taken photos of but that I have wonder
ful snapshots of in my memory. The snapshots in
my memory and all of those photos at home are all
important to me and I treasure pulling them out.
angela
gary
Angela Gary is an editor with MainStreet
Newspapers Inc. E-mail comments about this col
umn to AngieEditor@aol.com.
The Banks County News
Founded 1968
The official legal organ of Banks County, Ga.
Mike Buffington Co-Publisher (Editorial)
Scott Buffington Co-Publisher (Advertising)
Angela Gary Editor
Chris Bridges Sports Editor
Sharon Hogan Reporter
Anelia Chambers Receptionist
Suzanne Reed Church News
Phones (all 706 area code):
Angela Gary Phone 367-2490
Angela Gary Fax 367-9355
Homer Office Phone 677-3491
Homer Office Fax 677-3263
Sports Phone 367-2745
Sports Fax 367-9355
E-mail
AngieEditor@aol.com
chris@mainstreetnews.com
(SCED 547160)
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Three of a kind
E very time I see the Rev.
Jeremiah P. Wright hold
ing forth on TV, I think of
Jimmy Carter and Zell Miller.
All three angry men have spent the
latter parts of their careers railing
against former allies and sullying their
own national reputations.
As you may know, pastor Wright,
longtime and onetime spiritual adviser
to presidential candidate Barack
Obama, has been revealed as a strident
critic of the United States, a nation
damned by the minister for its alleged
terrorist activities. The discovery of
Wright and his radical views inflicted
a serious wound on the presidential
campaign that Sen. Obama once had a
good shot of winning.
When Obama tried to brush off
Wright as a bit off his rocker but a
swell guy nevertheless, Wright came
roaring back with more vitriol for
America and plenty of anger aimed at
his candidate.
Wright made a tour of the national
talking-heads circuit to defend himself
— a journey that might as well have
been financed by the GOP. Republican
stock shot up with every Wright
appearance.
There’s a parallel here with for
mer Sen. Miller, once king of the
Democrats. In 2000, Gov. Roy
Barnes was roundly applauded when
he appointed Miller, a Democrat,
to succeed Republican U.S. Sen.
Paul Coverdell, who died in office.
Barnes’ supporters said the appoint
ment of Miller was truly smart poli
tics. Miller could be re-elected easily
at home and would add muscle to
Georgia’s clout in Washington. Senate
Democratic Leader Tom Daschle even
phoned Barnes to urge the appoint
ment of Miller to add stature to the
Democratic caucus.Miller was a
dedicated lifelong populist Democrat,
or so everyone
thought. Once in
Washington and
safely on his way
to re-election,
Miller took a
page straight
from Jeremiah
P. Wright’s yet-
to-be-published
playbook. Miller
attacked his
Democratic men
tors and refused
to help his proteges. He assailed the
national Democratic Party for policies
that he said undermined the nation,
but he maintained his hold on the
national spotlight by refusing to quit
the party. He became the turncoat who
would not quite turn.
While much of his criticism was
valid, Miller’s public donkey flailings
appeared carefully staged to inflict
as much damage as possible on the
foes of George W. Bush and the allies
of his old friends, Bill and Hillary
Clinton.
Shortly after Miller exploded on
the Washington scene and even chal
lenged a TV correspondent to a duel,
former Georgia Sen. Wyche Fowler
happened to see Sen. Hillary Clinton
at a reception. “What in the world
has happened to Zell?” Sen. Clinton
asked. Fowler had no answer.
Former President Carter is the other
maverick in this troublemaking troika.
Carter won’t stay put. He meddles in
politics around the globe. If the policy
of the United States is to shun North
Korea, the former president flies off to
meet with that outcast nation’s lead
ers.
If the United States decides not to
talk with the Arab terrorist group,
Hamas, Carter concludes that he
should powwow with them.
As a result of his one-man foreign
policy tours, Carter has been frozen
out of the Bush Clinton & Bush presi
dential club that meets regularly for
golf and brunch. Carter is just not one
of the boys, though he is recognized
throughout much of the world for his
good deeds in combating disease and
political corruption.
Looking back over the wild and
wooly careers of Wright, Miller and
Carter, one is likely to lament their
recent activities.
“Perhaps all three contributed
something to the commonweal in their
earlier years,” one might contem
plate, “but the world would now be
a better place if these three flap-jaws
decided to play by the rules and stay
in bounds.”
On the other hand, this country
thrives on dissent. We came into being
as a nation because we did not want
to kowtow to our more mature British
brethren.
Our history is filled with great men
who refused to follow the flow and
broke ranks to vent their spleens.
To be sure, Carter, Wright and
Miller have irritated many. The first
two have even tried to pull the nation
off its present course. Perhaps they
ought to be venerated for much
of what they have said and done.
Couldn’t they also settle down and
behave themselves once in a while?
Carter has earned his place in his
tory. The U.S. Senate will never forget
Miller, and Wright deserves an entire
chapter in any upcoming history of
the 2008 presidential election. What
more could they want?
You can reach award-winning
columnist Bill Shipp at P.O. Box
2520, Kennesaw, GA 30156, e-mail:
shipp1@bellsouth.net, or Web
address: billshipponline.com.
bill
shipp
Letters to the editor policy given
The Banks County News has estab
lished a policy on printing Letters to
the editor.
We must have an original copy of
all letters that are submitted to us for
publication.
Members of our staff will not type
out or hand-write letters for people
who stop by the office and ask them
to do so.
Letters to the editor must also be
signed with the address and phone
number of the person who wrote
them.
The address and phone number
will be for our verification purposes
only and will not be printed unless
the writer requests it. Mail to,
The Banks County News, P.O. Box
920, Homer, Ga. 30547.
E-mailed letters will be accepted,
but we must have a contact phone
number and address. Letters that are
libelous will not be printed.
Letters may also be edited to meet
space requirements. Anyone with
questions on the policy is
asked to contact editor Angela Gary
at AngieEditor@aol.com or by call
ing 706-367-2490.
News department contact numbers
Anyone with general story ideas,
complaints or comments about the
news department is asked to call edi
tor Angela Gary at 706-367-2490.
She can also be reached by e-mail
at AngieEditor@aol.com.
Anyone with comments, questions
or suggestions relating to the coun
ty board of commissioners, county
government, county board of educa
tion and crime and courts is asked to
contact staff reporter Chris Bridges
at 706-367-2745 or by e-mail at
chris@mainstreetnews.com.
Bridges also is sports edi
tor of the paper and covers local
high school, middle school and
recreation sports.
Anyone with comments, ques
tions or suggestions relating to
Alto, Lula, Baldwin and Gillsville,
should contact Sharon Hogan at
706-367-5233 or by e-mail at
sharon@mainstreetnews.com.
Calls for information about the
church page should go to Suzanne
Reed at 706-677-3491. Church
news may also be e-mailed to
churchnews@mainstreetnews.com.
The Banks County News website
is updated each Thursday and
can be accessed on the Internet at
www.mainstreetnews.com.
Political fever
can certainly be
contagious thing
I ’m not exactly sure when I first
caught the political bug.
I suspect it may have been when
Jimmy Carter was elected president in
1976. Being a native of Georgia like
Mr. Carter, I felt a sense of pride. I felt
something in common with our new
president. Yes, at the ripe old age of five,
I was hooked by politics.
Since then, I have been fascinated by
the political process, politics in general
and especially elections. There’s just
something about elections that are, well,
downright American. I love campaign
season. Next to football season, it’s my
favorite time.
I’ve always
been fascinated
by campaigns and
candidates. I love
seeing signs dot the
landscape promot
ing candidates for
this office and that
office. As I said,
there’s something
patriotic about it.
As a child, I
remember watch
ing coverage of the
national conventions and literally being
fascinated by the colorful signs, balloons
and multitude of delegates. How great it
would be if I were in attendance, I often
thought.
Today, I always smile when I see a
vehicle sporting a bumper sticker saying
“Vote For....” on the back window. To
not only support a particular candidate
but to display that support for all to see
is something I admire. It doesn’t mat
ter if the candidate is the one I will be
voting for. It’s just great to see someone
else share a love of the political process
the way I do.
Placing a campaign sign in one’s yard
is another way of taking part in the pro
cess. Growing up, my parents always
voted, but they never really liked putting
signs in their yard. We did place one
for a family friend who was running for
sheriff one year but my mom insisted it
be a small one. During the 1990 gover
nor’s race, I had placed a sign for Roy
Barnes in our yard. A family friend later
asked said to my mom, “I see you are
for Roy Barnes.” My mom quickly set
the record straight, “Chris put that out
there.”
Once I had a place of my own, cam
paign signs in the front yard became the
norm. From local candidates to statewide
hopefuls to those running for the highest
elected office in the land, signs are seen
by my neighbors and passersby alike.
One fall my mom said, “Perhaps your
neighbors don’t like you having all those
signs in your yard.”
My response: “Well, they can put up
their own signs.” Indeed.
My love for politics and campaigning
eventually rubbed off on my better half.
At one time I don’t think she cared much
about the election process. However,
she follows it closely now. She watches
CNN religiously whenever states are
holding their presidential primaries. We
both enjoy hearing the musings of the
CNN team, particularly Pulitzer Prize
winning journalist Carl Bernstein. She
also enjoys watching Anderson Cooper.
I must admit I am proud of my better
half for taking such an interest in the
process. Of all my habits for her to pick
up, this is certainly a good one. I guess
politics is habit forming. As I write this
column, we both were getting ready for
Tuesday’s coverage of the Indiana and
North Carolina primaries.
We have many rights that we take for
granted as American citizens. I believe
taking part in the political process is
one of them. People in other parts of the
world would do anything to be able to
vote like we do. Even today, we have
brave American men and women over
sees fighting to help protect this right.
They aren’t thought about enough, but I
know they are on my mind as I enjoy the
2008 political season.
To some I may just be a political junk
ie who needs to find something better
to do with his time. To me, I feel I am
being a patriot by taking part in this very
American process.
4 h
chris
bridges
Chris Bridges is a reporter for The
Banks County News. Contact him at
706-367-2745 or e-mail comments to
chris@mainstreetnews.com.